Clutch-throw-out bearing



Jan. 13, 1931.

A. G, GEISTERT CLUTCH vTHROW-OUT BEARING -Filed June 15, 1927 gmx/nto@@a/f SMWW?? atm! Patented Jan. 13, 1931 ..TNTLone@f ALBERTIG.aEIsT'an-T;` oF*fnETRoIT,fIvIIcIIIGAN.AssIGNonToGENERAL MoTons conf-TonATIoN, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION or DELAWARE i theclutchcollar. y p I H ,l n l Figure 5 is ajview inelevation of theformure 1.

'fcnUTcIrTrIRovv-OUT.BEARINGi f i ,Apinicannmelrune 1a,

This invention relf'itestofclutches, Aand has been designed moreIespecially as an im- ,provementin a clutch, for motor vehicles;

The object4 of the inventionvis to innro'veA the throwoutbearing ;.lmoreparticularly the invention aims tomalre use of asolid selfllubricating anti-friction bearinglandto pr`o-` vide means whereby thellatteris secured against I otation' "relative tov one or vthefother ofthe relativelyrot'ating parts. y A.

Several specicforms have beendesigned' to carry out the inventive idea.'f

Figure l shows a motiorvehiclc clutch; the" fi ure being atransverse'section on a line" dlametricallyhrough the fly wheel with,Which'theclutch visasslociatedl Figure2 Figure 3, is a section online3-73 ofIiigf,v ure2. Y Y u i Figereji illustrates t: second?" frmgeheqview being: a section Ytransversely' through of invention illustrated in'Figure 4. j

Figure v6 shows a ysectional `detail "of 5a. third form.y f L i, f

Figure'7 .illustrates a" fourth form, also in sectional detail. y

Figure 8 shows in transverseVK section a -fifthv form of the invention,

Figure 9 illustratesfin elevation this Asame Yfifth form.

Figure 10 is a sectional detail of still another, a sixth form,rin whichthe invention may be embodied.

Figure 11 is a view ofthe form shown in Figure 10 in elevation.

Prior to this7 my invention, it has been proposed to use a sleeverotatable with the iy wheel member of the clutch and axially slidable torelease the clutch engagement. Together with such a sleeve there hasbeen used an axially vslidable but non-rotatable collar, manuallyoperable means as a lever being used to move the sleeve. To lessenfriction there have been used anti-friction bearings between-thesleeveand collar. In at least one such rior organization of parts a solidself-1u ricating carbon-graphite `im sectioned lineal-12 of Enf" iin'described and-showny on the accompany? 21. The y-iiy wheel `isfvormedwith a recess .23and' this 'recess is covered by a plate25 Vsecured -tothe iiy` wheel by a plurality of 1927. seran No. 198,486. i

lbearing hasfbeenL `used between the collar andfsleeve. J In suchAarrangements the bearl-l v I have found it desirable to anchor .such

la carbon-graphite bearing to one orthe other of thesev parts, "thecollar or ,the sleeve, so thatit` shall rotatewithsaid part. I also'kV60' .prefer to ,fastenl the bearing 'to said part for the ,purpose yofVpermitting l the assembly` of the bearing andpart as a unit.` I havefound that the ybest results are to behadwhen thecarbon graphite bearing`revolves in contact with a linlshed'castiron surface. To obtain theseresults the several arrangements here-` ing'drawing are effective.

In Figurel is showna fly" wheel 13`having teeth v15 for engagement withtheV starter mechanism.` The yfiy wheel may be secured t0 a flange 17 onthe engine shaft 19 bybolts bolts'27. 29 represents a. driven shafthaving its forward end provided withfsplinesl l holding a hub portion 33of the driven member of .the clutch. This hub portion is ser cured bymeans'of rivets vk35 to an annular i driven member 37 havingfrictionrings 39 Y on each side thereof. @ne ofthese friction rings 3 9 engagesa friction face 41on the iiy wheel. The otherfriction vdisc engages anannular portion of a pressure plate 43. It willbe understood that radialmovement of the pressure plate toward the fly wheel produces africtional clutching engagement between the driven member 37- and thedriving faces of the fly wheel and pressure plate. To 'secure 'thisfrictional 'contact a plurality of springs are positioned between thepressureplateyand theplate 25,` one such spring being represented in thedrawing by numeral/1595 Means "must be provided to overcome the pressureof the'spring and withdrawthe pressure plate from thedrivenclutch member37. To that end there is providedon the pla-te25 aninwardly directed lugto which is pivoted the levers 49. There are a plurality of these leversdistributed radially about the clutch, the drawing showing but one ofthem. e For the purpose of sliding the sleeve 55 inwardly there isprovided a collar 61 having inturned lugs 63 extending through openings65 in the end 67 of an operating lever. Suitable means such as a spring69 may be used to hold the lever and the collar in assembled relation.

For the purpose of providing an antifric tion bearing between the collarand sleeve the end of the collar adjacent the sleeve is formed with arecess 71 into which is inserted the carbon-graphite bearing 73. Thebearing member and the recessed portion of the sleeve are formed withflats, as shown at 75 in Figure 2, to prevent the relative rotationofthe bearing in the sleeve. For convenience in assembly split rivets 77are used, two such being shown in Figure 2. These rivetsare passedthrough the bearing as shown in Figure 3 throughthe flange of the sleeve55 and their ends are outturned as at 79 to secure theseA partstogether. e

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a second form of embodiment of the invention.In this second form the bearing member is carried bythe collar insteadof by the sleeve. The sleeve member is represented by numeral 55. It hasa radial flange 56. The collar member is represented by numeral 58. Itis formed with a central opening 60 surrounding the .driven shaft 29 andwith a recess 62 into which the bearing member is placed. The collar isformed with lugs 64 separated by a slot 66 extending into the centralopening 60. The lugs 64are apertured for the reception of a bolt 68. Bytightening the bolt 68 by means of its nut the collar is securelyclamped upon the bearing member. ,This collar is provided withdiametrically opposite eyes 72 registering with openings in the extendedends of an operating lever 74. Pivotal movement ofthe lever 74 effectsan axial movement sleeve.' The purpose of this spherical surface' is, ofcourse, to insure proper alignment of the par-ts.

In the form of the invention shown by Figure 7 the collar 84 is formedwith a radial flange having a small degree angle as at 86. In the recessformed by this angular portion 86 is received the bearin@r member 88 andit is intended that the Wedglng action shall hold the bearing memberfixed from rotation relative to the sleeve. If desired, a collar of thetype shown in Figure l may be used with this form of the invention.

'In Figure 8 the sleeve is substantially the same as sleeve 55 of Figure4 and is designated by the same reference character; The bearing is alsosubstantially like the bearing of Figure 4. In this form the clampcollar is formed as a stamping. The stamping is formed with a recesswhich corresponds to the recess portion of collar 58 of Figure 5. Theoutwardly extended lugs are made use of in this form and the bolt,68 andnut 70 serve to close the recess 66 and clamp the bearing member in thecollar.

In Figures 10 and 11 is shown still another form of the invention. Inthis form the sleeve 90, having a fiange 92, has a turned up rim 94 toreceive the bearing member 73. This sleeve is tobe formed of ressedsteel and has one or more lugs sheere in the rim as at 96 to engageslots 98 in the bearing 73. In this form of the invention the bearingmay be secured to the sleeve by smooth-on cement and rotation may beprevented by the lugs 96.

I claim:

In a clutch having a throw-out device comprising a sliding sleeve and acoaxial sliding collar, one of said parts having an annular recess, agraphitic bearing of annular shape in said annular recess, theperipheral ortions of said bearing and recess having at portions toprevent relative rotation.

In testlmony whereof I affix my signature.

ALBERT G. GEISTERT.

